Hello, everybody! My name is Leslie, the writer of this story. First off, I couldn't have been happier when I saw all the feedback for the first chapter. I'd like to thank every single commenter- your reviews made my day.
If you could spread the word about this story, whether it be on social media or just mentioning it to your friends, that would be amazing!
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Weddings were incredibly complicated things. Aurora knew that better than anyone. Sixteen years worth of fantasies and four months worth of headache-inducing planning had led up to one night- a single night- on which she would become shackled to another person for all eternity.
Not so desirable when put that way, is it?
Needless to say, Aurora was nervous. Fear chewed on her insides, and she felt as though her heart was caving in on itself.
"I can't do it," she moaned, clutching her stomach in anguish.
Aurora's mother, however, wasn't having any of it. "Aurora Cornelia Disney. You've dreamt about this day throughout your entire life, and I am not going to stand back and allow you to give it up now. You love Philip, don't you?"
"I do, mother. Really, I do."
"So, why the big fuss?"
"It's difficult to explain-"
"Try me."
Aurora was barely able to fight against the lump in her throat. "I was told thousands of fairytales when I was little, and each one ended with a wedding. The princess becomes a bride, and the story comes to a close. No one ever explains what happens after the wedding." She swallowed, attempting to cleanse her words of any wavers. "What if it isn't as wonderful as I imagined? What will I do then?"
"Well, that's the fun of it all. You get to find out what happens for yourself. You get to have your own adventure."
With hands burdened by age, the queen placed a tri-pointed slab of gold onto Aurora's head- a tiara, embellished with the crest of the Disney family. "It will be wonderful, Aurora, but not all the time. There will be hardships, and there will be arguments, as there are in any marriage. But you'll soon realize that that's what makes it all worthwhile."
Aurora was coming to realize, now more than ever, that not everything her mother said was going to make sense. This was one of those occurrences.
The princess wrestled with her nerves and descended down the steps of the palace, cloaking her anxiety with a set of rosy cheeks. After all, it was the only option that she had, as her mother had been more than willing to remind her. "What else are you going to do, Aurora? Cancel the ceremony? Leave the nobles to exchange rumors?"
Is this what her life would become? Masking her agony for the benefit of others? Was that what a royal family was for?
Warmth gushed into her palm- Philip's fingers, lanky and a bit on the coarse side, intertwined with Aurora's smooth ones. She blinked. The altar. She was at the altar.
And, just as quickly as they'd descended upon her, all those agonizing sensations drained from her stomach. Philip was there.
Philip was, in a word, perfect. He was gentle and heroic and nothing short of wonderful. The second eldest of the Southern Isles' thirteen princes, a beautiful cliché, plucked from the crinkled pages of a storybook. Exactly what Aurora had dreamt of.
Why her? He could have risked his life for any other maiden in the universe- why was it her?
"By the power invested in me by the kingdom of Elia, I now pronounce you husband and wife."
Applause, drawn-out and thunderous, linked with tear-streaked faces and radiant smiles. Friends of friends, distant relatives, royal families of kingdoms that Aurora had never even traveled to.
"You may now kiss the bride."
A kiss, both sugary-sweet and coarse at the same time. Aurora took comfort in the little clicking sound that was made when their lips parted, the sound that doors make when unlocked.
It wasn't until Aurora had reached the end of the massive chapel that she realized that she had just become a wife.
"How do you feel?" Philip asked, to which her lips tugged back into a grin.
"The same as I did before."
And then, there was upbeat music, a stony ballroom draped in gold and littered with overly dressed women. Satin gowns embellished with intricate beading, five-inch heels that required a massive amount of skill not to trip in, faces painted in bright pigments. Ballroom dancing was a skill that Aurora hadn't yet perfected, however, there was no getting out of it. Everyone expected the bride to dance. Because that was all that Aurora was- the bride. Just the bride. Always the princess, never Aurora.
When she was next to Philip, however, things slowed. The world's colors separated instead of fusing into one repulsive gray hue. Voices hushed, the floor disappeared from beneath her feet. She was flying.
"You seem nervous."
Aurora shook her head. "Just a little overwhelmed, is all. Don't worry about me."
"Don't worry? My darling, I'm your husband. It's my job to worry, isn't it?"
Husband. The word was jam-packed with so much terror and wonder that Aurora didn't know what to make of it. "Yes, I suppose that it is."
"Then tell me, Aurora, what's troubling you? Is it Maleficent? Are you concerned about-"
"No. No, not her. She's dead, Philip. That, I'm certain of."
"Then what is it that you're overwhelmed by? The amount of people? The unfamiliar faces? The-"
"The future." The word felt icy between Aurora's teeth.
Silence. Aurora lowered her head, making sure that her tiara stayed in place. How ironic it was, really, that she cared more about balancing her crown than she cared about her husband's reaction. The future. That could have been interpreted in so many different ways.
That was the last normal moment of Aurora's life.
A ferocious gust of wind crushed the mood beneath its feet. Lips clamped shut as nobles exchanged uneasy glances. All the windows in the ballroom had been shut tight- King Stefen had made sure of that. The wind didn't seem to care, however, knocking glasses off of tables and extinguishing any and all light sources. Mothers pulled wailing babies into their arms, wives flung themselves at their husbands.
Aurora found herself struggling to keep her balance- and to keep her tiara in place. The tri-pointed crown was forced off of her head and clanged against the marble floor. "Damn it!" she mumbled, following her first instinct and darting after the headpiece. Someone cried out for her, to which the princess barely reacted. It was the misplacement of her foot, rather, that stopped her in her tracks, and she lost her balance, slamming chest-first onto the marble floor. The impact forced pins through her nerve cells.
An eruption of emerald flames barely missed the tip of Aurora's nose, adrenaline screaming in her veins. A firm set of hands grabbed her by the waist and forced her to her feet- Philip's hands- and she was rushed to the edge of the ballroom before the smoke could travel up her nostrils. With a 'bang' loud enough to leave tears in the princess' eardrums, the flames vanished, and in their place stood a familiar figure, chin pointed upwards in distaste.
'No... No, it can't be!'
She was rather tall for a female, with olive skin and yellow eyes that burned through the shadows. Her hair, the color of midnight, was in a rather curious position, twisted into a shape that resembled the horns of a wild beast, which was precisely what she was. Her fingers were extremely thin, almost conveying malnourishment. She had dressed herself in her signature black robes which covered her from head to toe, as though the fabric was devouring her.
"Fondest greetings to you all."
Maleficent.
Aurora felt her heart kick into her throat, listening to the aria of murmurs that resounded throughout the room.
"I have to say," the beast spoke, her words stitched together with menacing giggles, "I'm quite surprised at how shocked you all look. I assumed that you'd be used to my habit of crashing royal celebrations by now."
"I-I killed you!" Philip screamed, allowing his hand to fall to his belt, fumbling for his sword. "I stabbed you and you fell to your death! I saw it!"
His words were met with a laugh that turned Aurora's blood to ice. "Oh, you foolish prince! Did you honestly believe that you could kill the mistress of all evil with a simple piece of metal? I cannot be defeated with a mere sword!"
The noble fairy dressed in blue, Merryweather, floated forward, plump cheeks reddened with anger. "That sword," the fairy spat, "was enchanted."
Maleficent offered a roll of her eyes. "It was enchanted with fairy magic. Black magic, however, triumphs over every branch of magic. Each one. If you believed that you could assist your dear Prince Philip in killing me, you bug, I can assure you that it didn't work."
Merryweather lifted her wand. "Who are you calling a bug, you wretch?"
A playful smile surfaced on the beast's lips. "Fairies. They always seem to have pathetic excuses for insults."
Before the fairy could lash out at the villain, the aging King Stefen stepped forward, trying a little too hard to balance his crown. "And what precisely are you doing here, your excellency?" Queen Leah stood behind him, using her husband as a human shield. The expression on her face was unreadable, and, for the millionth time since her return to the palace, Aurora wished for the ability to hear thoughts.
"She's come to spoil our happiness, no doubt," Philip hissed, tightening his grasp around his wife. His arms were warm with hatred.
"Maleficent, if you have any sort of plan to bestow a curse upon my daughter again, I can assure you that it won't work," Stefen declared. "The princess has found her true love, and true love, as you know, conquers-"
"Your majesty," Maleficent said, "if I may interrupt, who said anything about cursing your daughter? The princess isn't who I'm after." She shifted her eyes, letting them rest upon Aurora, who felt every individual strand of hair being torn from her body. "No. No, this barely concerns her."
"Then why are you here?" Elia's Queen piped up.
Maleficent allowed her yellowing teeth to show through her grin. "Oh, Leah, please. You don't have to play stupid with me. You know exactly what I'm speaking of." She spoke to the queen as though speaking with an old acquaintance. "I haven't come to bring harm to your daughter- rather, I've come to gain what is rightfully mine."
"And what, pray tell, would that be?"
The olive-skinned woman- or, for all Aurora knew, beast- lifted a willowy finger, pointing in the direction of the twin thrones which sat against the wall. "That, your majesty, is what was stolen from me long ago."
Philip growled, to which Aurora felt tears begin to form. "What makes you believe that you deserve the throne, you vicious, good for nothing-"
"Philip, Philip, Philip, you foolish little boy. There is much that you have to learn about Elia's history. So, so much."
Maleficent spun on her heel, her cloak billowing behind her, and she faced the congregation of frightened nobles that lined the walls. "Listen well, all of of you!" She slammed her staff against the floor with more force than necessary, which resulted in a sound akin to that of a gunshot.
"The Disneyverse seems so perfect and well, but I've returned to Elia with a disastrous spell.
'Tis another curse, indeed, which I shall bestow, which will bring a time of darkness and raise ones from below.
A war is approaching, unforgiving and mean, which shall lead to the undoing of your deceitful queen.
Suffering and pain shall be your fate, and not a thing you can do before it's too late."
With a surge of green flames and a laugh that could make the ocean recoil, the mistress of evil vanished. And Aurora was left wishing that she had stayed in her little cottage in the woods.
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QOTC:
Favorite Disney character of all time?
Edited on 2/5/16.